


The Fragile Flower

by SepticAbzies



Series: One-Shot Roleswaps [2]
Category: Power Rangers Samurai
Genre: Cameo from Lauren Shiba, Emily Just Needs a Hug, Emily-centric, Gen, Team as Family, mentions of past bullying, team bonding fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:01:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25922491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SepticAbzies/pseuds/SepticAbzies
Summary: In which Emily is the leader of the Samurai Rangers, and the one with a secret to hide. AU
Relationships: Antonio & Emily, Dayu | Delia/Deker, Emily & Serena, Jayden & Emily, Ji & Emily, Kevin & Emily, Mia & Emily, Mike & Emily
Series: One-Shot Roleswaps [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2002675
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	The Fragile Flower

**Author's Note:**

> I thought of and wrote this story in, literally, two days. Also, no pairings in this one (though it might seem Jemily-heavy, but you'll understand why when you read the story). Purely team-bonding, I promise. This is majorly in Emily's POV.
> 
> Also, it's very long. I could've split it up into various chapters, but I couldn't figure out where to cut the story into sections that satisfied me.

**The Fragile Flower**

Three centuries ago, the Head of the royal Suzuki Clan saves the lives of the Heads of the Clans Shiba, Hamasaki, Hayashi, and Watanabe from a terrible monster named Master Xandred. Now, the four Clans are forever in the debt of the royal family, and so they dedicate their eternal servitude to the Suzuki Clan, and every generation after them until all Nighlock are defeated.

The five band together under the rule of the royal family, whose Head takes up the mantle of the Yellow Ranger, and the leader. They become known as the Grand Shogun, the very first team of Samurai Rangers in history.

Emily Suzuki is a direct descendant of that royal Clan, which makes her a literal Princess by blood.

She's raised as a Princess, Japanese-style of course, and it shows through her mannerisms and her speech-style. It also shows through her skills as a diplomat, usually being able to make compromises that make everybody happy, and it also shows through her good judge of character. She also prefers pacifism, but she is trained very early on to not be afraid to fight if she has to.

She also has servants that do stuff for her, and that's always made her embarrassed. She likes waiting on others, not the other way around.

But she's never really let her life at home bother her, even though the bullies at school use 'Princess' as an insult a lot, until she's suddenly placed into a certain position against her will.

It's only until then that she wishes that she were just a normal kid.

* * *

Eight years after the incident, Emily's mentor Ji has declared her ready (read 'strong enough') to lead a team.

This is something that has always perplexed her. She's used to fighting alone, living alone, being alone...and after the incident, she's not sure she could handle anybody else leaving her.

What if her vassals don't like what they see? What if her vassals are all stronger than her and see her as weak? What would they think of her if they knew about the incident?

But when Ji says that it's her responsibility as the Princess to be the leader, Emily reluctantly accepts. She doesn't want to let her family, and her vassals' families, down. She promised all of them that she wouldn't, that she would fight the Nighlock until her dying breath.

And Emily Suzuki always keeps her promises.

So she lets Ji fire the arrows that tell the other four to gather, that it's time to give up everything that resembles a normal life that they've worked for (it's another reason Emily is reluctant to call them here; they all have normal lives, and she doesn't want to take that away from them).

And within twelve quick hours, the Suzuki House is less empty than it was this morning.

They're good, and a part of Emily twinges with jealousy that they are so much more skilled than she is (she was never really good at anything).

Jayden Shiba, her Red Ranger, is the strong and silent type. He might be the most skilled with a blade (in the very least, his technique is better than hers), and he is definitely wiser than he appears to be. It's obvious to Emily that he'd make a much better leader than her, and she can understand why she looks up to him so much, even though they haven't known each other for a full day yet.

(She also knows that he's standing in for his older sister, Lauren, as she heard from Ji. She wonders where Lauren is, but she doesn't press the issue, knowing that neither of her vassals wouldn't be here without a good reason.)

Kevin Hamasaki, her Blue Ranger, is logical, methodical, and precise, and his technique is the best among them (even better than Jayden's). His power and love for water shines through in the fact that he was in a swimsuit when they all first met. The way he clutched the goggles in his hand before vowing to stand by her side and fight makes Emily suspect that he had to give up swimming to be here.

(When she later finds out she is right, she forces herself not to cry. She needs to be a rock for her team, just like her element of Earth suggests.)

Mia Watanabe, her Pink Ranger, is the only female vassal, but Emily is glad that Mia can kick ass just as well as any of the males can. Mia is also very motherly and definitely more in tune with the emotions of the world around her, and Emily knows that's something the guys could never top, so if Mia is ever convinced that it's a bad thing, Emily will not be afraid to tell her that it's a good thing.

(When Emily tries Mia's cooking for the first time, she genuinely believes it's good. Due to her strict training schedule, this is the first time she's ever had any home cooking, and she loves it, even after being treated to pizza by the guys and getting a taste on what good food really is.)

Michael Hayashi, her Green Ranger, nicknamed Mike, is interesting, and he makes her wonder if he's what a normal kid looks like. He upsets Ji and Kevin the most, as well as Jayden to an extent, but Mike seems to enjoy teasing other people, and his love for having fun is a direct foil to the trio's strict adherence to duty. Mike's a great fighter, though his skills are lacking, but his friendly jokester personality is her favorite.

(He also likes teasing Emily, even though no one else does and always chastise him for doing so, because Emily's the Princess and he 'needs to show her more respect'. But she likes being teased by Mike. It's very friendly, and it makes her feel like she has a friend.)

As much as she loves not being lonely, it's still too much for her. It's only been a day, but she feels like she's being suffocated. She needs to get out for a while. So she tells Ji where she's going and why, and he lets her, but she chooses not to tell her vassals, instead choosing to let them bond with each other.

It's a nice three and a half hours of her in the park, training by herself, her flute in her belt, and she's glad she left the House. This gives her the much needed breath of fresh air she was looking for.

Of course, her not telling her vassals about this is the reason why they come looking for her, once they realize she's missing.

"Emily?" Jayden's voice stops her, and Emily suddenly faced with her four vassals walking up to her, looking confused and concerned.

"H-Hello..." Emily is quiet when she speaks.

"Have you been training out here by yourself the whole time?" Mia asks.

Emily silently, shyly nods, noting that they sound and look hurt. "I-I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings, but I just...needed to be alone for a while."

"Is socializing with others too much for you?" Mike asks.

"Not really," Emily explains. "If it's spread out, then I can handle it. But it's only been a day and I already have four new people living in the same house as me."

"You just needed room to breathe," Jayden hits the nail on the head, and Emily nods.

She hopes they understand. She doesn't know what to do if they don't.

"We're really sorry we made you feel that way," Kevin apologizes, respectful as ever. "If we can make it up to you, we'd like to."

She hears no objections to this, and for the first time since meeting her four vassals, she smiles, as she shakes her head, "It's alright. You don't have to. It's not your fault." And it's the truth.

"You sure?" Mia asks. Still smiling, Emily nods. "'Cause we feel like it's our fault."

"It's not," Emily replies, gently and calmly. "I promise."

"We still want to make it up to you," Mike gets closer to her, reaching for a stick in the takeout box and pulling out a kebab. "Here." Emily raises an eyebrow in confusion while Kevin scrambles to protest at this (Jayden and Mia both just roll their eyes at him). "You deserve this more than I do."

Despite Kevin advising her not to, she takes it anyway, returning his smile.

(After the fight with Scorponic, Jayden comes clean about Lauren, solemnly explaining that she was severely injured in a car crash years ago, injuries which are beleived to be physically impossible to recover from, which is why Jayden's in her place. It's obvious he's afraid of Emily's reaction, which is why he's surprised when she asks to meet Lauren when all of this is over. She doesn't explain why, only admitting that she has her reasons.)

* * *

Emily is quick to notice that Mike has the most trouble adjusting to the Samurai life, and Ji's (seemingly daily) lectures aren't helping. Emily feels a powerful urge to tell Ji to be more gentle in his teaching, to tell him that Mike could have a different way of learning, but in order to do that, she'd also have to agree with Ji and remind Mike that his skills could use some work.

She can't do that, because she's one to talk.

She knows her own skills still need polishing, so lecturing anybody else on getting stronger is rather hypocritical of her.

So she says nothing, instead choosing to let him learn from his mistakes (which he does).

She just regrets his friends having to get hurt for him to do so.

* * *

Kevin and Mia bond over the Nighlock named Doubletone. Emily wonders why until she, Mike, and Jayden are watching Mia cook a homemade meal for Kevin, when she is told that Doubletone is intent on making the boy Ryan give up on his dream.

So Emily is proud of the two when they team-up against the Nighlock and deliver a satisfying beatdown in revenge for making Ryan cry.

She later hears that Ryan just wanted to see his Dad again (who left to fight in the war overseas), and her heart immediately goes out to him (because there's someone she wants to see again too, though unlike him, she knows she won't). If her vassals have a problem with her using a Symbol to help Ryan's dream become a vision, even if for a moment, they don't say anything.

And if she does notice some romantic sparks flying between Kevin and Mia, she doesn't say anything either.

* * *

When Emily's vassals invite her to Rainbow's End on their first day off, she half-wonders if it's out of pity. But it doesn't matter what she thinks in that moment, because she has something important to do (yes, something more important than enjoying a day at the amusement park).

She wants to go with them (she's never seen a roller coaster before), but she needs to master the Beetle Disk in order to be prepared for a fight in which the Beetle Disk is needed, before it's too late.

She struggles. Oh boy, is it difficult, but no one ever told her it would be easy, so she can't fault anyone for this. She's nearly burned alive when she first tries the Disk with her Spin Sword.

Ji advises her that she needs balance in her life, and Emily reminds him that she's the Yellow Ranger now. She has to be the best and keep getting better.

The other four protect her and her blind spots a lot. They protect her, and she understands that they're told that's their job by their families, but as the Princess, it's her job to also protect them in return.

She needs to be strong for them, so any and all weaknesses must be thrown out the window.

So she brushes off Ji's advice and continues training anyway.

But one hour later, she's called out to the entrance of Rainbow's End when the Nighlock Dreadhead attacks. The other four are there, and they are beaten up. Emily surprises the Nighlock by attacking him from behind, but she quickly realizes why the others are beat up when her Sword goes right through the Nighlock.

Understanding that it's unwise for her to take this guy on alone, she leads the group attack called 'Quintuple Slash', and it does damage to him, but not enough, so she has no choice but to reveal the Beetle Disk while the five are all huddled behind Jayden's Fire Smasher, which protects them from the blasts. The other four are understandably surprised and curious about this Disk.

But she hesitates on using it. She hasn't fully mastered it, and she really doesn't want her vassals to see her fail.

Her hesitation allows Dreadhead to retreat when he finally dries out.

Back at the House, they're all wallowing in defeat, not wanting to give up. They know they don't have a way to defeat this Nighlock, so they're having difficulty accepting that they may have met their match.

This is when Mike asks about the Disk and Emily lets Ji explains to the others exactly what it is. Mike asks her why she didn't use it earlier, and Emily quietly, reluctantly comes clean.

She's honest when she tells them that she hasn't mastered it yet and that she doesn't plan to rest until she does, before promising them to use it next time, no matter what.

And Emily Suzuki always keeps her promises.

That night, Emily fails over and over again. She's utterly exhausted and she's pretty sure there are bruises all over her body from being knocked back so much, but she doesn't give up.

The whole world is counting on her. Her team is counting on her. Her family is counting on her. She can't let them down.

She doesn't know when she passed out, but knows it's been all night when she wakes up to Ji the next morning telling her that Dreadhead has returned. As she struggles to her feet, she vows to herself that whether she mastered the Beetle Disk or not, she will keep her promise to use it against the Nighlock.

When she gets there, the Ape Zord saves Kevin from getting killed, but Emily herself still hesitates in using the Disk.

But her vassals are practically yelling at her to do it, as she'll clearly die if she doesn't. And that's when she realizes that it's better to fail before succeeding than to go down without trying.

So she grabs the Disk and hooks it up to her Spin Sword, and to her surprise, she succeeds in controlling the flames.

She needs their respective Symbols, though, and the others give them to her. With all their Powers combined, she slices through the enemy and easily destroys Dreadhead's first life.

Because Emily Suzuki always keeps her promises, no matter what.

(They also get a free Zord out of it. Emily joins them the next day at Rainbow's End, after a long nap the day before, and she's glad she did, and it's not just because she got to ride on a roller coaster for the first time.)

* * *

Mike's first impression of Emily is not a Princess, like everyone else does and says she is. He instead sees a lonely girl that was prematurely placed in this position.

She's clearly not ready for this, and this is the reason he doubts her. Not because she's a girl (that has nothing to do with it), not because of her age, but because she still has a lot to learn. Her swordplay is strong and honest, but she still has some growing up to do.

He also knows how she's easily the most protected person on the team, and not just because she's the Princess. She's also the youngest of the group, as well as the least-skilled. It's obvious Emily only spent half of her childhood training for this whole Samurai business, unlike her four vassals, who spent their entire lives doing so.

But then Negatron attacks, and Mike himself is the first to go down.

Negatron easily finds their weak spots. Mike's insecure about being seen as immature (the Nighlock brings up the fact that he had training wheels on his bike until he was ten), and, having a front row seat to the action, he quickly learns what the others are insecure about.

Kevin fears being boring and Mia fears being a 'lousy cook', and they are both taken out easily. Beside him, Emily stands from her kneeling position, expressing her confusion about how Negatron's powers work. Jayden steps in front of her to protect her (and Mike sees Emily ease up when he does). Negatron, however, is also able to find Jayden's weak point, unfairly (in Mike's honest opinion) bringing up how the Red Ranger's insecurity about not living up to his sister's shadow is making him weak.

And with that, Emily is the last one standing.

But then she surprises him, all of them actually.

Emily turns around, lifting her Spin Sword to fight, and she angrily declares, "Your words won't faze me. Jayden is not weak! You're just a mean mouthed monster spouting nothing but nonsense!"

And Mike, as he gets to his feet, and the other three watch as Emily goes ham on the Nighlock. Negatron spouts insult after insult at her, but Emily remains unfazed (just as she said), almost as if she agreed with Negatron's insults completely.

She doesn't stop until the Nighlock is forced to retreat through a gap.

Back at the House, Emily is the one who cheers them up, advising them to ignore the insults and just keep thinking that the person never even said it.

But Mike points out that she still insults herself and wonders aloud if she really does agree with Negatron. It's only until Emily's gone outside for air that Mia reminds him he can still hurt Emily's feelings.

And he's never felt so remorseful in his life.

So he gives her time to breathe, listening to her play her wooden flute that she carries within her belt everywhere a hauntingly beautiful tune that sounds like she's been playing it for years, before he announces his prescence and apologizes to her.

"It's alright," she replies. "It's not your fault." She always says this, and he wonders why (but wisely chooses not to say anything). She then explains, "Before my training, I went to school like any other normal kid, and while there, I was bullied." She's sad when she adds, "And for good reason too. I was never good at anything. I never got the perfect grades, I was weird and socially awkward, and I never could do anything right. So, being a Samurai is like a brand new start for me."

He hits another nail on the head when he realizes, "So you've learned to block out the insults because you know that you have flaws."

"Yes," she explains, "and I've accepted them, but I don't let it get to me, because I know that I'm above them. Bullies like to take the power given to them to hurt and intimidate others. I use the Power given to me to protect the innocent."

And Mike smiles.

This is when he mentally vows to always be by her side, swearing from here on out to give her his complete loyalty.

Because he no longer doubts her. Now, he's proud to serve under her.

* * *

Kevin's first impression of Emily is an authority figure who is a lot more lonely than she lets people catch on. He follows her out a sense of duty, because his family said that's what he was supposed to do.

It's easy for him to do, since he always follows the rules, but it's only until Negatron's defeat that he notices that Mike is beginning to take his training seriously and Kevin wonders why.

And when Mike admits that he's found a reason (other than duty) to follow Emily, it makes Kevin think. Other than duty, what reason does Kevin have to follow her?

And then the Swordfish Zord is sighted right when the Gap Sensor goes off, and Emily assigns Kevin himself to catch it and bring it back, while she and the other three take care of the Nighlock. Kevin wonders why (not out loud) but heads out to the beach where it was sighted. This is a crucial task and he is not allowed to fail, and he doesn't want to let her down.

A couple hours later, Kevin gets a call from Ji and he is informed that the other four are sick thanks to the Nighlock named Yamiror, who can cause a human to get sick with one breath. Ji places urgency on Kevin's task of catching the Swordfish Zord (whose Symbol Power can heal anybody) before there's an alarm sounding on the other end and he hears Ji protest.

"A Nighlock attack!" Ji exclaims. "Not now! Emily! What are you doing up?!"

Kevin can only listen as as Emily weakly replies, "You heard the Gap Sensor. There's a Nighlock to fight."

"You can't defeat a Nighlock in your condition," Ji argues, and a worried Kevin mentally agrees.

"Maybe not," Emily agrees, "but I can stop him from hurting others."

"Just wait until Kevin returns with the Swordfish Zord!" Ji urges, before turning back to the phone, "Kevin, listen–!"

But Ji's cut off, and Kevin's not left wondering why for very long, since Emily is now on the other line, having snatched the phone from Ji. "Kevin, Mentor's exaggerating. Don't worry about us. Just focus on getting the Swordfish Zord, okay?"

Kevin is easily caught off-guard by how calm Emily sounds. "O-Okay...but-"

Emily gently cuts him off, "I didn't choose you randomly, Kevin. You're extremely disciplined and orderly, and your commitment to this team is fierce. I know you can do anything you set your mind to."

And in that moment, Kevin realized something.

"T-Thank you, Emily. I'll be there as soon as I can," he promises.

"I know you will," Emily calmly replies before addressing Ji. "I'll take care of the Nighlock."

Ji pauses for a moment, as Kevin hears footsteps fade farther and farther away. "Kevin, please hurry," Ji urges before hanging up.

As Kevin places his Samuraizer back in his pocket, he forces himself not to cry.

Because what he realized was that, even while sick, Emily had the utmost faith in her teammates as well as the determination to keep standing up even when she was defeated.

Kevin resumes his fishing, motivated by Emily's determination.

And when he finally catches the elusive Zord, in that moment, Kevin finds his own reason to follow Emily, and he's proud of it.

He will never let her down.

* * *

Mia's first impression of Emily is someone who needs a hug (but she's glad Emily likes her cooking, since no one else seems to). Unlike Kevin and Mike, however, Mia's already had her own reason for letting Emily lead her.

Jayden and Kevin both are easily the oldest at 20 (almost 21), while Mike and Mia herself are both 19 (almost 20), while Emily is obviously the youngest at 17 (just turned). Emily is the only minor in the group, while the others are legal adults who know how to drive.

Emily needs them, because without her four vassals, the blonde girl would be all alone. So Mia's vowed to stay with Emily so the girl won't feel so lonely.

It's not pity, though, Mia repeatedly tells herself and others who ask (including Jayden, Kevin, and Mike). Emily has so many good qualities about her: she's kind, understanding, and incredibly tough, and not just when she needs to be (Mike told her, Jayden, and Kevin about Emily being bullied as a kid, and all four hearts immediately went out to her).

It's also because Emily seems to look up to Mia as an older sister, and Mia's vowed herself to not let the younger girl down.

All of this is reinforced by the missing brides incident.

Once Mia had heard about brides being kidnapped by Moogers, she had volunteered to be the bride in their staged wedding (both times; she wanted to save those women). Emily had asked if she was sure, and when Mia said "Yes", Emily stared deep into her eyes (Mia felt like the blonde was staring directly into the elder's soul), before saying "Okay".

Emily then turned to the guys and asked who wanted to be the groom. All three backed off (probably out of fear; Mia merely shook her head before pointing out that they fought against actual monsters; besides, it was a fake wedding), so Emily compromised the situation (something else Mia loved about her) by suggesting that Mia choose her own groom.

And so Kevin was the unfortunate groom to Mia's bride.

The first staged wedding was a failure, so Emily decided to try again after Jayden suggested they narrow down the lengthy list the Nighlock had to choose weddings from as well as advising that they have a Plan B.

So Kevin and Mia were back in action, acting as the obvious decoys in the one wedding that chose not cancel, and Mia was kidnapped and brought to Deker, the Nighlock responsible.

Apparently, Deker, a member of Master Xandred's own crew, was kidnapping brides on their wedding days, the happiest day of their lives, and making them cry, using their tears in order to stitch together a wedding dress that he was hoping would bring back his own bride back from the dead.

Mia's heart went out to him and she was wondering what happened to him that made him so angry.

But what comforted her was the fact that Emily had willingly volunteered to be the bride to be kidnapped for real and shoved into the giant cake with the rest of the brides in order to ensure the correct coordinates.

Thanks to Emily, the three guys managed to arrive just in time to save Mia from Deker's wrath and soon after, Emily revealed herself.

Deker managed to escape thanks to the interference of a rouge Nighlock named Dayu.

While the fight didn't end in the defeat of a Nighlock, the captured brides were still rescued and returned to their families. Leave it to Emily to find the bright side in any situation.

(Besides, no one said 'no' to Emily's suggestion of getting a victory goodie at the bakery.)

* * *

Jayden's first impression of Emily is a girl who's not ready for the position she's in. He supposes that's understandable when considering her young age. And when seeing (and hearing) how young she is and how inexperienced she is compared to the rest of them, Jayden (for the first time in his life) expresses gratitude that the ancient texts state that the Red Ranger is always the second-in-command to the Yellow Ranger.

Because Emily needs him to be strong when she cannot.

The first instance of this is the attack of the Nighlock Madimot.

Madimot is an annoying opponent, constantly boasting about how he's the 'baddest of the bad'.

But he's not to be underestimated, since he's managed to turn the Tiger Zord (who Madimot calls 'Tiggy') against them. Jayden sees how much one of their own being turned against them hurts Emily, so he vows to find a way to turn the Tiger Zord back to normal.

But then Madimot chooses to make a Ranger puppet. He aims for no one in particular, and it just so happens to be Mike. Emily calls everyone to get down and/or dodge, and Mike is unfortunately a little too slow when processing the order, so Emily rushes to him and pushes him down.

So Emily's hit instead.

She immediately falls to her knees, clutching her head as if she has a headache, and Jayden realizes that she's trying to fight the Nighlock's spell. Madimot gleefully laughs out loud and expresses joy that he actually managed to catch the Princess, the leader of the Samurai Rangers.

Madimot then snaps his fingers and all of a sudden, Emily is attacking them, and all hell breaks loose.

Jayden manages to avoid her Sword, choosing instead to go after Madimot, the one responsible. Meanwhile, Emily grabs an easy victory with a simple Seismic Swing against the other three due to them being so fearful of hurting her. Because of this, Jayden is forced to teleport himself and the other three back to the House in a cloud of fire.

Jayden knows what he has to do. He doesn't want to, but the sake of himself, Emily, and everybody else, he has to.

He's created the Resist Disk, and it has the power to turn both Emily and the Tiger Zord back to normal (like he previously promised her), but he has to get in a close enough position to use the Disk. This means he has to fight them.

He has no issues fighting the Tiger Zord, as it can be repaired. It's Emily that's the problem. Jayden doesn't want to fight her either, so he perfectly understands the other three's hesitation.

But they can't win the war against the Nighlock without her. They need her, just as much as she needs them.

Unfortunately, the others don't know about the Disk. He later finds out that they thought he was fighting Emily solely because he wanted to put her out of her misery, because he thought it was the only way to free her. This is why they start yelling at him, urging him to stop and reconsider his options.

Unknown to him (until later), a human woman (later revealed to be Dayu) comments on the fight to the other three, and she tells them exactly what Jayden and Emily are both doing, giving a play-by-play of their duel, which fortunately ends with Jayden succeeding and using the Resist Disk to return her to normal.

It works. Emily's confused when she wakes up, as well as de-morphed, and she asks Jayden what happened. Madimot angrily demands to know the same thing. Jayden half-expects her to cry, half-expects her to be angry, when he explains everything to her (and Kevin, Mike, and Mia), but she surprises him by sending him a grateful smile.

It's such an infectuous smile that he can't help but return it (even if he's still morphed).

After the others morph, Jayden, as he promised, hands Emily the Resist Disk so she can turn the Tiger Zord back to normal too.

(After the fight, she profusely apologizes to her vassals for fighting them, confessing that she was constantly trying to fight the Nighlock's spell, but they reassure her that they don't blame her at all, reminding her that they also fought against a friend and that Madimot's power was too strong to fight against. The dynamic is restored that night with a classic Zord board game.)

* * *

Emily knows choosing specific pilots for the Battlewing is a bad idea the moment Ji brings it up.

According to Ji, Emily should pilot the Tiger Zord because she's the leader, the Princess, even though she disagrees (she believes Jayden would make a better pilot than her). Kevin should pilot the Swordfish Zord because he's the one who caught it (and Emily does somewhat agree on that).

The Beetle Zord is the one everyone fights over. Ji's torn between Jayden and Mia, and Emily wonders why Mike isn't being included in this discussion, because as far as she knows, Mike's been working just as hard as the others.

She's ready to use her skills as a diplomat. She's ready to intervene in case she needs to. (And she knows she will.)

Ji's not the only one who urges her to keep the Tiger Zord. Her four vassals do too. So, she agrees to pilot Tiger, but chooses Jayden as her back-up in case she is unable to (to which he easily agrees, to Emily's relief).

It seems that, with this, Ji makes his final decision. Kevin will indeed pilot Swordfish, while Mia will pilot Beetle due to her Symbol Power being the one they all trust, and once again, Emily mentally questions why Mike isn't being included.

And immediately, just as Emily suspects, Mike starts intensively training and doesn't stop, not even for lunch, even though today is a free day. When Emily notes Mike's angry expression at the meeting (which causes Mia to feel bad for Mike), Ji reminds them that hard work is the reason Mia was chosen over Mike. Emily, however, defends Mike and says that he's trying.

Emily is relieved when Ji agrees with her and tells her that Mike had the power to do the same, but his inability to listen has made him unprepared.

Emily's about to respond to that, but she's cut off by the Gap Sensor going off.

The Nighlock's name is Desperaino, and he has the power to make it rain on people and drive those people to despair. Emily finds that his victims always put themselves down, and she leads the charge, but her team is blasted back.

That's when Kevin gives the order that changes everything: he tells Mia that they have to use the new Disks (Emily hooks the Tiger Disk up to her Earth Slicer when he says this, but never gets to throw it). The Beetle Disk is blasted out of Mia's hands by the Nighlock. Mike manages to grab it before it can hit the ground, but he doesn't give it back to her.

Instead, he tries to use it himself, confident that he can do it, but he fails. It doesn't work.

Kevin immediately chastises Mike over this decision, and it quickly turns into a full-blown argument even though the Nighlock is still attacking them.

Emily's heart jumps when Jayden beside her yells at the others to stop fighting and focus on Desperaino instead (and while she's grateful to him for breaking up the fight, she still mentally lectures herself for not doing it first).

The Nighlock manages to escape and Kevin immediately turns to Mike and demands to know what he was thinking, and Mike (quietly, remorsefully) excuses it as just wanting to help.

Back at the House, Emily doesn't stop the heated lecture Mike gets from Ji. Because she knows Ji is right about Mike needing to listen, but she also knows that Mike has it in him to be so much stronger if Ji was the one who did the listening.

Due to Mike's selfish actions, Ji is forced to bench Mike. The Green Ranger does not turn over his Samuraizer quietly and uses his Symbol Power to get a plant to grab Ji's cane.

This angers Emily, remembering how comforting Ji was after the incident, and how supportive of her he always is. So, she gets in between the two and orders Mike to stop.

The House is quiet after Mike leaves, and Emily decides to talk to Ji directly about this whole mess. She manages to convince him to let her decide who gets which Disk, as they both know she's a great judge of character, and to her surprise, he also agrees easily to teaching Mike how to use Symbol Power.

Emily is glad to see that Ji kept his word when Mike uses his strengthened Symbol Power to take down the Nighlock.

(And if Mike has a complaint about him not being one of the first three pilots of the Battlewing, then nobody says anything about it.)

* * *

Xandred knows. He knows all about the Sealing Power and his army of Moogers repeatedly going after her that morning makes Emily very grateful for the protection of her four vassals (it's a long fight, but eventually the Moogers give up).

But it leads to Emily and Ji revealing the Sealing Power to the other four. The royal Suzuki Clan has the ability to permanently seal Xandred away.

When the others ask why Emily hasn't used it yet, she is extremely grateful when Ji fibs and says that Emily's young age makes it very dangerous for her to master it (it's not too far from the truth actually, but it's not exactly the full story either).

Emily doesn't have the heart to tell them the truth, not even when Jayden and Kevin both shield her from Robtish's attack, not even when Mike and Mia both shield her from Dayu's attack.

Angered at her enemies for taking her friends down, Emily easily holds both Nighlock back until they retreat (though Emily is confused at this 'ultimate duel' Dayu keeps talking about). She de-morphs and helps Mike and Mia carry Jayden and Kevin back to the House, where they receive the medical treatment they need.

But that night, she runs away, filled with grief and insecurities and guilt. Why her? she wonders. Why did this have to happen to her?

All she wants to be is a normal kid.

She stays away from the House, wandering around the city all night, until the next morning when she sees a boy in the park who is sad because he misses his father (who had to move away for a job). Emily easily cheers him up with her flute, playing the song she's always known, the lullaby that always lifts her spirits up when she's feeling down.

It works and before she knows it, all the kids are surrounding her, sitting on the ground Indian-style, listening to her play.

By this time, Emily doesn't feel so sad. She still feels guilty that her vassals, her teammates, her friends are comfortable with throwing their lives away for a little girl who will never be strong enough to master the Sealing Power, but she's homesick.

It's funny. A while ago, she'd leave the House for a while because she was getting too much social interaction, and now, she's not getting enough. She wants to go back home, to her team, to her friends, to her family.

Robtish attacks again, ruining Emily's plans because she knows she has to stop him, even if the others don't come.

But they do.

They arrive just in time to save her and she's never been so happy to see them. They tell her that Ji told them the reason she always feels so lonely is because she lost someone very close to her as a child (and she's grateful when they tell her that Ji never gave a name), and she starts to cry when they vow to never let her feel alone ever again.

And this time, she's reluctant to wipe those tears away (but she has to because Robtish is still out there). She promises them that she'll trust them with her life as long as they trust her with theirs.

(Later, at the movie theater, Emily doesn't stop smiling. She's never felt so alive.)

* * *

One day, Antonio returns. This is hidden from her at first, as she's being stalked by a Nighlock out for the Sealing Power, and it's her four vassals who manage to track him down and pin him as the one who shot at the House with an arrow and a note attached to it that said 'See You Soon' (that suspiciously smelled like fish; a familiar smell to Emily that she couldn't pinpoint, if she had to be honest).

They confront him out of sheer protectiveness, and he easily realizes who they really are and instantly runs away, managing to escape their wrath until after the Nighlock Vulpes is defeated, by Antonio no less, who reveals himself as the Gold Ranger.

Emily immediately breaks out a smile when she remembers who he is (after he de-morphs). She explains to her four teammates that Antonio was her childhood friend that she met soon after beginning her Samurai training, and he helped her feel less alone in the years after losing her closest person (especially since he makes her laugh).

Ji never liked Antonio, due to him always distracting Emily, letting her play when she should have been training.

The two were friends for one year before he had to move. She forced herself not to cry and instead went under Ji's nose and gave him the OctoZord, promising him that when he returned, she'd make him a Samurai.

She's not subtle when she expresses excitement about Antonio joining the team, which is why she's not really surprised when Ji reminds her that being a Samurai Ranger is a dangerous business, bringing up the incident with Robtish.

She knows it hurts Antonio when she sadly refuses to let him join the fight against the Nighlock Steeleto. It hurts her too, but Ji has a point.

Emily does not want Antonio to get hurt, especially not on her behalf.

But she makes a bad choice, as Steeleto easily defeats them. The others (including Kevin surprisingly) quickly come to the conclusion that they need Antonio on the team, and Ji is quick to agree after seeing how having to refuse Antonio's help is negatively affecting Emily (they all miss her smile, and she's lost it now; but it's surprising to see that Emily, no matter how sad she is, is stubborn about letting Antonio on the team).

So they devise a plan to get Emily to change her mind. Mike and Mia bring Antonio to the house, while Jayden spars with Emily in an attempt to find out her reasoning (he hits a couple of nails on the head, and in revenge, Emily wins the match).

When everybody gathers in the training yard, Antonio included, Emily suddenly feels threatened and betrayed, especially since they appear to be turning against her. The storm of her emotions causes an outburst after Mia asks her why she won't let Antonio on the team.

"Well, excuse me for caring about my teammates! I just don't want anybody to get hurt on my behalf!" she yells, and the yard immediately goes quiet (her outburst gives the others a clearer insight of just how much she suffers through).

Antonio is the only one who answers. "I know the risks, Em, and I'm not afraid. I chose this."

Emily retrieves Antonio's Morpher from her belt and holds it in her hand, before giving him the same speech she gave the others, "Good, because if you follow me, there is no turning back. I will only give this back to you if you are willing to fight as a Samurai Ranger will all of your heart."

"I will," Antonio vows.

And Emily smiles as she hands him his Morpher back. He takes it as she tells him, "Welcome to the team, Antonio."

Their smiles all return when hers does.

* * *

Everything changes when Emily's 18th birthday arrives. Her five friends are planning to surprise her, but she is attacked by the Nighlock Splitface, who steals her spirit when she is covering a little girl's escape.

The Nighlock is not shy about celebrating his victory, his success in stealing the spirit of the Samurai Princess, and he mocks the other Rangers, since they're supposed to be her protectors, and seals the deal by saying that they only twenty-four hours to get Emily's spirit back and that he's not coming back to the human world until it's too late.

It's obvious that Splitface wants them all to suffer, and once their Princess is gone, they'll fall apart because they can't live without her (a fact that's so obvious that everybody knows it).

She manages to wake up the next morning, to their surprise (sixteen hours into the twenty-four hour time limit), and the first words out of her mouth are "I'm sorry. I let him get to me."

"Don't worry about that," Mike replies, as Mia gives Emily a glass of water. "We're just glad you're okay."

But she tears up, "I promised I wouldn't let you guys down."

"You never have, Em," Jayden answers, as he kneels next to her bed. "And we're not going to let you down either. We will save you," he vows. "Please, just hold on until then."

"I'll be fine," is her response as she feels herself fading back to sleep.

Once she's out like a light, all hell breaks loose.

But when she wakes up, she learns two things:

1: That Antonio repaired a freakin' Zord in order to save her, which worked (she made sure to thank him).

And 2: Just how far the others are willing to go to save her. They weren't afraid to become Nighlocks for her sake (and she's glad they didn't).

But she also learned a third thing: that she could trust them to fight off a Nighlock without her.

This definitely turned out to be the best birthday she's ever had.

* * *

Then comes the time for them to retrieve the Black Box from the Tengen Gate, guarded by Lord Daisuke (who already seems to know that the Rangers are the Rangers and that Emily is the Princess, as well as who Emily's most important person is).

Antonio is chosen via group concensus to be the one to finish it (thanks to his technical skills), and while at the Gate, they get their first glimpse at why Deker is so fixated on reviving his bride via a tapestry that Daisuke shows them.

They succeed in getting the Black Box, but they pay a price for it.

Octoroo poisons the tea, and unfortunately, Emily's four teammates all realize this too late. They're suffering from the poison and Arachnitor chooses to attack the Gate in that moment.

Emily is reluctant to leave them behind, but she's the only one available to fight, so she has to.

But she's immediately bombarded as soon as she morphs. There's Arachnitor (who's keen on killing her) and Octoroo (who's keen on keeping her alive until she hands over the Sealing Symbol). Being attacked by two different enemies, and having no back-up, is the toughest challenge Emily's faced so far, but she faces it down with incredible courage.

She's knocked down, though, and is about to be killed until Antonio arrives on the scene just in time, and Emily's so grateful that he showed up when he did. She assigns him to go after Octoroo and get the antidote for the poison off of him and then back the others still inside the compound.

Not much is getting done, and Emily and Antonio know they're about to be defeated, and they're not expecting any back-up from the other four (since they're still poisoned; unless Daisuke can somehow work a miracle in time). So it comes as a major surprise when the one who saves them is Xandred himself, who drags Arachnitor (an apparent 'traitor') back to the Netherworld and whose arrival is enough to scare Octoroo away (who, fortunately, accidentally drops the antidote on his way off).

Emily gives the antidote to Antonio, and he takes it to Daisuke (who immediately works on administering it to Jayden, Kevin, Mia, and Mike).

But while he does, Emily is unexpectedly faced with Dayu, who's still going on about some 'ultimate duel' and how Emily is the perfect opponent.

A messenger runs into the room where Antonio and Daisuke are and informs them that another Nighlock has appeared. Antonio rushes to help Emily with this one, but by the time he arrives, he's too late.

Dayu's already made Emily de-morph and pass out from exhaustion and injuries, which has given her the chance to kidnap her and take her to a place far away from any help the girl may receive.

Emily comes to in a cave next to the sea, all wet and no longer feeling so injured. She's still tired, though, but her injuries are somehow healing.

"There's a river nearby," Dayu, Emily's current company from across the campfire, informs her, "that can heal any injury and negate the effects of any poison. I dunked you into it. That's why you're wet. You'll be sore and exhausted for a while, so for now just rest."

Emily tries to ignore her advice (it's coming from a Nighlock, for crying out loud), and shakily gets to her feet. But she quickly realizes that Dayu's right when Emily's legs give out from underneath her, and she collapses back to the ground.

"See?" Dayu asks. "Should have listened to me."

Emily doesn't answer her. She only mentally apologizes to her team for letting them down, before following Dayu's instructions.

It's quiet until Emily asks Dayu something that's bothering her, "Why would you heal my injuries? We're enemies."

Dayu strokes her Harmonium as she answers quietly, "Because I want you in top form before we duel."

"I don't fight just to fight. I fight to protect people," Emily immediately replies. "What do you hope to accomplish by this duel?"

"If you must know, I was once fully human," Dayu admits as she plays a hauntingly beautiful tune on her instrument. "I don't remember that time. I only know that my Harmonium is the only piece of my past that I have. Now, all I know is this constant craving for battle. The Nighlock in me gives me no choice about it."

"You always have a choice," Emily replies.

"Easy for you to say," Dayu says. "You're the Yellow Ranger."

"Doing the right thing is always worth the effort, no matter how hard it is," Emily coldly tells Dayu. "That's why I won't fight just to fight."

"You will give me the ultimate battle," Dayu hotly retorts, "whether you like it or not! It's the only way I'll ever be free from this terrible curse! It's the only way I'll ever remember my past!"

Emily says nothing, only resting, thinking about Dayu's words.

A few hours pass, and Dayu stands up, pulling out the blade concealed in her Harmonium and pointing it at Emily. "You should be fully recovered by now."

Emily stands up, her Spin Sword in hand, asking, "Why me? There's plenty of better warriors than me in the world."

"Yes," Dayu agrees, "but like me, you have a secret festering inside you, and it's connected to the instruments we carry everywhere." Emily's hand around her handle of her Sword clenches at the mention of her wooden flute in her belt. "We're both warped, twisted."

"What do you mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean," Dayu's reply is cold. "Like me, you fight with all your might to keep yourself tethered to your past, and you despise being alone, which is why you also fight to preserve your present." Emily immediately realizes that Dayu's referring to the human girl's five teammates. "It doesn't matter if you're not the best warrior to me. You have the spirit of one, and that's why you're the perfect opponent." Dayu then turns into her Nighlock form. "Go ahead, Princess." The name sounds just like the bullies' insults from so long ago. "The first move is yours."

Emily is half-grateful, half-disappointed (and she doesn't know why), when Antonio arrives just in time (once again) to save her. He manages to bring her back home (even if they have to fight a mutated Arachnitor first), and during the pizza party at dinner, Emily forces herself to smile and not think about Dayu's words (it's not that hard, though, since she's able to breathe a heavy sigh of relief when she sees that Jayden, Kevin, Mike, and Mia are all still alive and no longer poisoned).

But she can't hide any pain from her vassals. They know something's wrong within the next three days. They easily figure out that Dayu said something to her, and they all apologize to her for not being able to protect her (Emily admits they shouldn't worry about that; it doesn't bother and never will).

Mia and Jayden are sent into town for groceries, and while there, they encounter a rouge Deker (who's been kicked out of Xandred's ship for being unable to let go of his past) in search of a pure soul who can repair his broken sword. The Nighlock Rhinosnorus emerges soon after to incapacitate Deker on Xandred's orders, and the five Rangers aren't sure who to fight.

During the fight that follows, Deker manages to slip away with the human he found, intent on fixing his sword. Jayden manages to go after him, and after Emily saves Mia from a mist blast from Rhinosnorus, she tells the elder girl to go after Jayden.

Antonio shows up to help soon after Jayden and Mia leave the fight, but the Gold Ranger is knocked out before he can morph. Fortunately, this gives the other three Rangers a way to head into the Dream World. Emily stays behind, thanks to the exhaustion caused by creating that portal with her Symbol Power, and she can only watch over Antonio and the other victims while she waits for Kevin and Mike to defeat the Nighlock in the Dream World.

(What she doesn't know, but later finds out, is that, while she does this, Rhinosnorus manages to catch up to Deker, Jayden, and Mia, and sends all three of them to sleep. This unintentionally connects their three dreams, and Jayden and Mia are unfortunate witnesses to the night Deker lost his bride Dayu to an intentional fire thanks to a Nighlock the Rangers haven't seen before. When the three wake up, Mia hesitates, still seeing a speck of humanity left in Deker, which gives the Nighlock an opening to kill her, but Jayden steps in front of her just in time, as he urges Mia to snap out of it before they're both killed.)

When Antonio wakes up, he's about to help an utterly exhausted Emily back to the House when a group of Giant Moogers attack the city. The following Megazord fight only adds to Emily's exhaustion. After the fight, the two are unfortunate to run into Dayu, who's returned for the ultimate duel with Emily.

Antonio tries his best to protect Emily, and he manages to succeed in convincing Dayu to schedule the duel for another day: tomorrow at noon at the beach.

But Dayu's one condition is that only Emily shows up at noon precisely, or else Dayu will go after Emily's "precious present". Antonio is confused at this strange wording and wonders what Dayu's talking about, but Emily does yet says nothing to Antonio.

Dayu's talking about Jayden, Kevin, Mia, Mike, and Antonio. If Emily doesn't do as Dayu says, then Dayu will go after them, because the five Rangers under Emily's command are her present.

Emily is unable to let go of her past, doesn't care about the future, and only lives in the present. Exactly like Dayu. She's accepted this, even if the others haven't.

When she and Antonio get home, Dayu's ultimatum causes a full-blown debate within the team. Kevin is against Emily going alone, Antonio and Mia are both all for Emily going alone (as long as Dayu is defeated), Mike wisely stays silent, while Jayden is torn since he understands both sides. Emily only ends the debate herself when Antonio brings up Dayu vowing to go after "Emily's precious present" and the others also don't know what this means.

She shuts the debate down by deciding that she will go alone and there's nothing any of them can do to persuade her otherwise (she glances hard at Kevin when she says this).

All five of them are surprised by her outburst. Emily is usually bubbly, cheerful, optimistic. She rarely ever snaps at them.

She only sees Kevin that night, who apologizes and vows to help her by training with her (and she's grateful when he agrees not to and does not go easy on her).

She sees the others the next morning. They're in the yard training when she comes out, and they all turn to her the moment she opens the door. She's given words of encouragement from everybody, until she's asked one more time what the "precious present" means. She doesn't want to answer, but they deserve to know.

So, she's glad that the Gap Sensor goes off when it does.

Rhinosnorus is back and Emily places Jayden in charge, giving him her Power Disks so they can form the Megazord without her, but before she leaves, she vows to them that she will tell them the truth when she returns.

(And she does. That night at dinner, Emily's injured arm doesn't stop her from enjoying the rest of the day with her friends. And when she tells the others that the present means them, that they're her family now, she's immediately given a tight group hug in return.)

* * *

She writes an email that Christmas to her most important person that she doesn't send. (That person's no longer alive, so it doesn't make sense to send it.) In it, she writes to this person about how she doesn't feel so alone anymore.

She kinda envies her teammates, though, for having families and relatives (especially siblings) that are still alive. Part of her says it's not fair that they get to be happy and she doesn't, but it's sincerely not their fault.

Besides they don't know who her most important person is or how they died. So why blame them for anything?

It's not until after Christmas that Antonio finishes the Black Box. Good thing, too, because that's when the mutated Arachnitor returns.

Emily's thought of how to use the Black Box (Antonio said it was meant to power up one person at a time). She doesn't feel worthy enough to use it (she likes being last), but she knows that the others will practically beg her to use it first (because 'that's what she deserves'), so she does.

And boy, is it glorious. She's never had so much power before, and beating Arachnitor seems so much easier when she uses it against him. (And she's glad she does use it first, because she's had a bone to pick with Arachnitor since the moment he first stepped foot inside the Tengen Gate, when four of her teammates, her friends, were poisoned and she was the only one left to fight him.)

She lets Kevin use it next, against the Nighlock Armadevil, because he was the one who came up with the plan to crack his shell and beat him.

She lets Mike use it after, against the Nighlock Switchbeast. She knows she could have used it too, as it was just her and Mike, but she decided that her friends deserved time to shine too.

When the team first meets Serrator (Antonio is unfortunately faced with a fear of fish at this time, thanks to the previous Nighlock attack), the Nighlock seems keen on torturing Emily. She doesn't really have to give the Black Box to somebody else this time, because Jayden decides to use it himself in order to protect her (though it was Antonio who saved the day overall).

And then the team meets the RPM Ranger Summer Landsdown (who won't de-morph due to something about toxic air in her dimension, as compared to the cleaner air here). She's in Panorama City, in their dimension, on a mission to track down a robot enemy named Professor Cog, who just so happens to ally himself with the Nighlock. She and Summer manage to connect after Jayden, Kevin, Mia, Mike, and Antonio protect her from an attack that sends them to Summer's dimension and sends the two Yellows flying backward into the sea.

She finds out that Summer comes from a rich family (though Emily is actually royalty) and that she became a Ranger after she lost somebody close to her too, her butler named Andrews (the only person who genuinely cared about her at the time, in Summer's own words). The two are so similar, Emily wonders if Summer is her from an alternate dimension (but the thought quickly goes away). The only difference between them is that Summer is her team's Second, while her Red, Scott, is the leader, and for Emily and Jayden, it's the other way around. (She also asks Summer if the RPM Rangers will take care of the Samurai, and Summer's reply is positive and absolute, and it makes Emily feel a lot better.)

When it comes time to face off against Cog, the two Yellows trick him into believing that his Hypno-Bolts worked right before Emily's team returns, this time with a few guests: Summer's team. They're all morphed, like Summer herself, but Emily doesn't care. She's just glad to have her friends back. Doning Super Samurai Mode (in Emily's case; she has no regrets about this) and Shark Attack Mode (in Summer's case; Emily gives it to her because Summer deserves a chance to rock too), all together, the Rangers defeat Cog and Tread (and General Gut, but Emily easily beat him with Shark Attack Mode), and they all made some new friends along the way (which is why it hurt to say goodbye to them).

Soon after the RPM Rangers depart, the Nighlock Eyescar kidnaps Ji and Antonio while they're out working on the Light Zord (mainly to get away from Mike and his pranks). Mike feels guilty about letting this happen, so Emily goes back to her humble ways and gives him the Shark Disk to redeem himself.

A few days later, a boy named Cody comes to them with a request: he wants them to free the Bullzord, and Emily does not think that's a good idea (she's glad to know the others agree with her). Jayden connects with Cody, almost becoming an older brother to him, and this is the (main) reason she gives him the Black Box in order to fight off Crustor.

Then they get to meet Terry, Mia's younger brother. He's Emily's mirror opposite: he's the younger brother and he gets to follow his dream to be a guitarist (and he's really good at it) as well as actually go to college (med school, in his case) because Mia's perfectly healthy enough to hold her position as the Pink Ranger, and Emily envies him (though she's really good at not showing it) because he is everything she would be if her most important person didn't bite the dust (well, if you don't consider the 'Princess' part).

But Emily does admit that Terry would've made a great Ranger, as the concert he performs in (despite what Mia first thinks, and what the two siblings get into a fight about) is for charity. (She also gives Mia the Black Box to use against Serrator, because she deserves it too.)

Then, they meet the Nighlock Skarf right when Kevin's old swim team returns to Panorama City. Skarf eats Kevin's Samuraizer, making him unable to morph, and Emily decides to give Kevin time to grieve over the life he had to leave behind and lead the rest of her team in the battle against Skarf, without Kevin. They can do this without him, and he deserves a break after everything he's done for the team.

But Kevin comes to the battlefield anyway, ready to fight while defenseless, because he's just that loyal, so she rewards his loyalty and bravery with his retrieved Samuraizer and the Black Box.

(And Emily's stomach fills with dread when she sees that Dayu is not dead. She's back and still wants that duel.)

Then attacks the Nighlock Duplicator, and Mia meets a new friend named Spike, who is upset because he thinks he's a loser. He explains that he's trying to find (and keep) a job so he can help his Uncle Bulk with the rent. (He also wants to become a Samurai, and that surprises everybody.) But Mia cheers both Spike and the other Rangers up with the same advice: that a true Samurai never gives up (and for that, Emily rewards her with another use of the Black Box).

* * *

Jayden is the first to notice (because of course he is). He notices how she tends to use any excuse to avoid using the Black Box if she can help it. But he suspects this is probably a touchy subject for her, so he chooses not to say anything right away (something she appreciates).

It all starts with training one morning. Emily ends practice early so she and Mia can go on their shopping trip at the mall, and she's walking out into the hall where she'll wait for Mia to finish getting dressed when she overhears Kevin saying, "But Emily...can be too nice sometimes." Emily tries not to let it bother her (she's used to insults), but since it's coming from one of her own friends, she can't. It instead festers inside of her, growing until she (and Jayden) can no longer ignore it.

She and Mia are at the mall, trying on clothes, and she's enjoying herself because this is the life she's always dreamed of having. They're both having fun until Emily lets slip to Mia about her fear not being tough enough for the team. Thankfully, Mia does not ask her to elaborate and instead tries to cheer her up instead: "Em, you're tough, in your own way."

Soon after (during which Mia accidentally drops her wallet), the Nighlock Grinataur shows his face and hits people with his dirt to make them endlessly and tirelessly eat everything under the sun (and she means everything).

It's start out as a normal fight. Moogers are being fought first and Emily decides to go after the Nighlock herself, but thanks to Emily's diminishing self-confidence, Grinataur easily takes her out. Now injured and knocked out, she has no way of avoiding the dirt he throws at her.

When she wakes up at the House, she learns from Jayden that the other four got hit with Grinataur's dirt (and are now eating everything in the kitchen, so Ji's got a lot on his plate right now). Jayden was the last to step into the fray (succeeding in taking care of all the Moogers first before he did), and Grinataur dried out before he could hit Jayden (fortunately for all of them).

Emily apologizes for letting them down (again), but Jayden reassures her that it's not her fault and reminds her that she'll come back like she always does. (She smiles at this, but the smile goes away as soon as it appears, and he notices.)

This is when he decides to confront her. "Why are hiding from the Black Box?" His voice is soft and quiet. He's not intending on lecturing her (which makes her feel better); he's just worried.

"I'm not hiding from anything," Emily replies.

"Yes, you are." He doesn't raise his voice, which is why his words are striking deep with her. "You use every excuse you can to avoid it."

"I just want you guys to use it too." Her voice and confidence both waver when she says this. "I'm not the center of the universe, you know."

"The truth, Em," is all he says, but it's enough to break her down.

"I'm not worthy."

If he's surprised by her answer, he doesn't say anything, almost as if he were expecting it. "Why would you say that?"

"I'm not strong enough," she answers, trying to hold back the tears. He is the first person she's ever voiced this to (and it feels good to get it off her chest). "I doubt I ever will be. You guys are always so far ahead me."

He is quiet before and especially when he answers, "True strength is not measured physically, Em. It's measured emotionally. You've gone through so much in the past, and are still going through so much right now, which is why I'm not surprised you're breaking down now."

She gathers up enough courage to look him in the eyes, and the first thing she notices is how gentle they are (this is when she realizes that they always have been).

"Have faith in your abilities, Em," Jayden continues. "You are strong enough. You just don't realize it."

And his words bring a permanent smile to her face.

Unfortunately, the moment is ruined when Ji rushes into the room and requests their help: both in the kitchen and with a pair of guys in the dojo who want to become Samurai. Emily volunteers to take the guys (which leaves Jayden with helping Ji in the kitchen), wanting to explore just how tough she can be (and when she introduces herself to them in her drill sergeant persona, she's kinda pleased they find her intimidating; she later finds out they just wanted to return Mia's wallet).

Jayden and Emily are the only ones who can fight Grinataur when he comes back. It's a close fight (the Nighlock is a lot stronger than he first let on), until Jayden tells Emily to use the Black Box.

And she does, this time without hesitation.

* * *

A few days after Kevin and Mike are glued together, the Rangers are called to explore the goings-on at an island off the shores of Panorama City. Apparently, something happened and communications have been cut off.

Once there, Emily splits them up into pairs in order to cover more ground: Jayden with Mia, Mike with Antonio, and Kevin with her.

While split up, they discover that the Nighlock have rained down some sort of anti-trust ash over the entire island, making all the occupants hate and distrust each other.

Then, Mike and Antonio encounter Serrator (who makes fun of them for using swords), Jayden and Mia encounter Deker, while Kevin and Emily encounter Dayu (who immediately goes after Emily).

During their fight, after Kevin's knocked away, Dayu gets right up in her face and tells her, "You've gotten weaker, Yellow Ranger. You rely on your teammates to fight your battles now. Just more proof that you're a burden to them."

She can take insults. She can. She should be able to. So why do these words haunt her so much?

Is she really a burden to the others? She's the leader, right? That's her role.

But Jayden would make a better leader than her. She knows that, so maybe Dayu is right.

No, Dayu's right, without a doubt. Emily's not supposed to be on the team. She never asked for this. Her most important person was supposed to be the leader, but they can't, and neither can her parents since they died long ago. That only leaves Emily.

Emily, the last remaining descendant of the royal Suzuki Clan.

No one else can do this. It has to be her. And that's what she hates the most.

The fact that she has no other choice.

The Rangers manage to defeat Malden and his Master Blasters, as well as drive Serrator away and cleanse his ash from the island, but Dayu's words still haunt Emily long after they return to the House, where Ji waits for them.

The others are worried about her now. They know something's wrong. She doesn't lash out at them during training (she can't even stomach the thought), but she does space out a lot. Her smile is gone, her usually bright eyes are now dull, and she's obviously more upset than she's ever been since she's not playing her flute like she normally does whenever she's feeling down.

Ji takes her (via his motorcycle) to a far away paradise next to the beach, where she can freely talk to him. She's relieved when she's able to tell him what Dayu said, when she's able to tell him her thought process because of Dayu's words, when she's able to finally cry and mourn the loss of her family, when she's finally able to process the fact that she's the last Suzuki standing in a manner that's healthy for her. She misses them, all of them. They may have been royalty, but they were still family.

And Ji doesn't say a word, only hugging her when it's obvious that she needs one.

Back at the House (even though the Gap Sensor's going off), when she vows to her team to let go of her past and live in the present from now on, they all smile back at her (because the fire in her eyes, her smile, her tune, they're all back).

On the battlefield, they're not surprised to see Serrator there. But they are surprised to see Deker arriving and attacking Serrator, demanding that he return the sword his bride gave him so long ago on their wedding night. Why? Aren't they on the same side?

But all of that is nothing when compared to the biggest surprise of all: Master Xandred actually crosses through a Gap and into the human world in order to get his revenge on Serrator for betraying him (and that's when it all makes sense to the Rangers).

Serrator quickly splits before he can be destroyed (the coward), causing Xandred's attention to turn to the Rangers.

They try their best to stay alive (it's all they can do). Xandred's handicapped but he still manages to wipe the floor with them all, making it impossible to land a solid hit on him. They attack and defend as a team, and Emily tries her best to keep her team alive and standing, but as luck would have it, she's the first to go down.

Xandred chokes her out for a few seconds before throwing her against a nearby boulder. The lack of oxygen (thanks to Xandred) combined with her injuries and exhaustion makes it no wonder at all why she passed out.

When she wakes back up, she's back in the House, in the recovery room, and she apologizes to her team for letting them down (again).

It's not her fault, it's not her fault, it's not her fault, she tells herself repeatedly (it doesn't work).

They're very lucky that Xandred was halfway towards being completely dried out before Octoroo made him return to the River, so he'll be out of commission for a while. They're also very lucky that Serrator has chosen not to attack the city while Emily is out of commission (one would think that'd be the perfect time; though Emily's confident that her team could handle it without her).

It's literally the day after Emily is allowed out of bed that Serrator chooses to attack (fortunately, thanks to Kevin, the Rangers now know what his plan is), and Emily forces herself to be confident. If they fail this one, the world is done for.

It's a long and arduous fight (during which Antonio tries and fails to take Dayu out, and the others are rather glad he doesn't succeed), but they win. And it's worth it, and not just because Serrator's been defeated for good.

It's because Emily had finally realized what her teammates, her friends, her family, had been trying to tell her the entire time.

Emily's not a burden. She is the most important person on the team, and not because she is the leader. In reality, all six of the Rangers have had their leadership moments, and all six have the capacity to be good at it, so it doesn't really matter who the leader is.

It matters who the heart is.

The others always protected her because she is the heart of the group. She's the one who's always willing to give them the benefit of a doubt whenever something goes wrong. She's the one who sees the best in everybody. Nothing is ever right when she's depressed because their happiness is ultimately effected by hers.

It doesn't matter that she's not as strong or as talented as they are. She's their backbone. She's the one who gives them confidence.

(If Ji has a problem with his Rangers staying up late that night, celebrating their victory and friendship, he doesn't say anything.)

* * *

But everything changes when the Nighlock Tierran attacks.

By this point, the status quo of the team dynamic has been happily accepted, and Emily is comfortable with keeping her secret a secret for now, having realized that she doesn't really want to tell the others because she's not ready to.

But this Nighlock forced that secret out of her.

Tierran's Rock Smashers have the power to ignite the Earth Symbol Power within anybody he hits, and the more Earth Symbol Power the target has, the more damage the attack does.

And if anybody couldn't already guess, it quickly becomes evident that he's after Emily.

Of course, the others step in to protect her, since Tierran outright states that all it will take to kill Emily is no more than three hits. Emily objects, of course. She still hates it when they do that.

But alarm bells ring on both sides when Emily is hit with Tierran's Rock Smashers more than three times. She's actually hit seven times, the first three while being protected by the others (until she went Super and vowed to defeat Tierran herself), the next three during her solo fight with the Nighlock, and the last one in order to get close enough to actually finish him off (and she does).

Seven is apparently the magic number, as Emily lets herself pass out after giving Jayden the Black Box so the team can defeat Tierran's Mega Monster form without her.

Emily next wakes up at the House, her mind fuzzy and her vision blurry. She's not completely awake, but she's awake enough to listen in on the conversation the others are having.

"That Nighlock said she should've gone down in just three hits," comes a female's voice (Mia's), and she immediately knows they're talking about her.

"So either she's a trooper or..." A male voice (Mike's) cuts in and then just trails off.

"Ji," comes another male voice, and Emily recognizes it as Jayden's, "tell us the truth. Is Emily really the first-born?"

Ji doesn't answer, and Emily wonders for a moment if she blacked out again, until he finally replies with, "No. But that's her story to tell, not mine."

So her secret's out (well, half of it is), but she's still too afraid to tell them the truth. What will they think of her then? What do they think of her now?

Emily's mind fades back to black, but her heart continues to beat on in sorrow and guilt.

When she wakes up next, she's not sure how much time has passed since Tierran's defeat (it's been one week, the others later tell her), or if any Nighlock has attacked in that time frame (one has, actually, named Gigertox, the only Nighlock known to have a third life). She just knows that it's nighttime now and her mind and vision are both a lot more clearer than they were the last time she woke up.

Well, her mind is clear in the sense that she can think properly, but not in the sense that she has nothing on her mind.

Because she remembers what Ji told the others. She's not sure whether this really happened or not, but she is absolutely certain that the others suspect enough to deserve the truth.

So, she runs away.

Not for very long. She intends on returning. She just needs time to think. She brings her flute with her, which she plays after she kneels in front a familiar (to her) gravestone.

The tune she plays is nostalgic (it's the one she always plays) and hauntingly beautiful, and playing it gives her the necessary amount of courage to go back home and face her friends, her family, to finally let go of her past and live in her present. It also attracts the attention of the last person Emily wants to see right now.

Dayu, who's obviously here to get that ultimate duel she always talks about.

Emily doesn't want to fight her, but she knows that Dayu won't stop until she's defeated, so she has to. She has no choice.

So she summons her Sword and charges into the fight.

* * *

It's well into the next day when the others finally find her, and they're begging her to stop, that fighting Dayu isn't worth it.

This exchange gives Emily an temporary opening that Dayu exploits, causing Emily to de-morph and collapse. She's tired, she's in pain, but she immediately gets back to her feet, (this time) protecting the others from Dayu, and she's desperate to do so.

They're always protecting her. Now, it's her turn to repay all those favors.

Dayu sees her determination, and (of course) she comments on it, "We're mirror images, Yellow Ranger." Behind Emily, the other Rangers raise their eyebrows in confusion. "We're both afraid of letting go of our past and properly living in the present, which is why we're both deathly afraid of the future."

"You two are nothing alike!" Kevin cries out.

Emily says nothing. Even if Kevin (or any of the others) think otherwise, Emily knows that she and Dayu are too similar for comfort.

"Aren't we?" Dayu reponds to Kevin's outburst. "Both of us have an instrument that link us directly to our past. It reminds us of the one person we deeply love but can no longer see in the same light."

Emily still doesn't speak. She can only lower her gaze to the ground. She knows Dayu's words are true.

Then Dayu surprises them all, "We used to be at the same level, Yellow Ranger. How did you get so far away?"

The others are confused by Dayu's wording, but Emily isn't. She lowers her Sword as she replies, "Because I found something worth living for."

And that's the one difference she and Dayu have. Emily has a reason to keep living (protecting the innocent and her friends), while Dayu is still stuck in the past.

Dayu sheathes the dagger back within her Harmonium and walks away, and something deep within Emily tells her that Dayu's searching for something to live for, just like Emily.

No more ultimate duel. Dayu's just trying to live now, trying to find a way she can live with her curse.

"Why'd she walk away?" Mia asks to the others.

"Whatever the reason," Antonio replies, "we'll be ready when she comes back."

Emily softly smiles, though her back is to them, "Something tells me we don't have to worry about her anymore. Whether she comes back or not, she's no longer a threat to us."

She turns around to face them and automatically know what they're thinking about just from the looks on their faces.

"Em," Jayden quietly begins, "Ji told us something interesting." Emily presses her lips together before nodding, and then taking a deep breath.

"I already know what it is," she replies. They give her a surprised look, and she explains, "I was half awake to hear that conversation. I just need to know what all Ji told you."

They are quiet, until Antonio speaks up, "That attack with Tierran, specifically you not going down in three hits, had us suspecting that you weren't the first-born."

"Ji told us that we were right," Mike adds. "But he said that it was only up to you to tell us why."

Emily offered them a sad smile, before pulling out her flute, "He's correct. I'm not the first-born. The real Yellow Ranger would be my older sister Serena."

"Older sister?" Mia repeats. "Where is she? In hiding?"

Emily sadly shakes her head, before leading everyone's gazes to the gravestone she was kneeling in front of last night with a simple turn of her head.

And immediately, everyone's demeanors shift from confusion to understanding and sympathy. Because in that moment, they realize that Serena Suzuki is dead, gone, and they realize and understand everything Emily's gone through. They understand everything Dayu just said about her and Emily being 'mirror images'.

"We're so sorry, Emily," Mia apologizes for all of them.

"Don't be. It's not your fault," Emily gives them a smile, before beginning her story. "Serena and I were both raised the same way, despite being eight years apart. It was our parents' final request before Mom died in battle and Dad died before I was born. They wanted to ensure that everything would still be fine if I ever had to lead the team for whatever reason. But I also had to go to school, and while there, it became evident to me that Serena was the perfect one. I mean, I never got the best grades, it was always so hard for me to make friends because I was so weird and awkward, and for a long time, I felt like I couldn't do anything right." She tightly clutched the wooden flute in her hand. "I'd come home crying, and Serena would always play her flute to cheer me up. She made me realize that I wouldn't always be the worst at everything." Her sad smile faded into a frown, her hazel eyes filling up with tears. "But then she got sick, really sick. Even now, no one's really sure what bug she caught. She was sick for a year until she gave me the Ape Zord, her flute, and her blessing. It was obvious that she was dying, though no one wanted to admit it, and that I was going to have to take her place. She died two days later, and with it, my normal childhood."

The others are quiet as they process this.

Antonio adds, "So, Ji took you in to properly train you as a Samurai. One year later, you met me." Emily nods. "And then I had to leave."

"No wonder you always felt lonely," Mia quietly speaks. "No friends at school, your sister being the only person you can turn to. And then she dies. You meet Antonio, but he moves away after a year, and you're alone again."

"I never really had a choice with anything," Emily continues. "It always seems like every problem I face is one someone else has dumped on me. Like being in Serena's shadow. There's no way I can ever get out of it. There's only one thing I had a choice with, and I'm glad I made it."

"What's that?" Kevin asks.

"You guys," Emily replies, her genuine smile back. "Sure, we were all called together due to family traditions, but I didn't have to open up to any of you. I was awkward and unsure at first, but I did eventually decide to let you all break my walls down."

Jayden walks up to her and wraps her in a tight hug. (He's always been so much more taller than her, and that's often bugged her, but not this time. This time she feels protected.) "We're glad you made that choice too."

Soon, everybody else joins in on the hug as well, and Emily feels right at home.

For once, she is happy and content.

* * *

When she first took Serena's place, Emily would never have guessed that she would've gone down in history as the Suzuki Clan Head that took down Master Xandred for good. And if she ever did, she would've denied it.

Now? Well, she'd still deny it. At least, she'd deny the fact that she did it alone.

Soon after the group hug the six Rangers shared, Ji had called Jayden to alert them of a disturbance at the Marina, where Deker was, him and an army of Moogers attacking civilians left and right. While the others fought off the Moogers, Jayden went after Deker and he discovered that Deker was on a rampage over losing Dayu for good, collecting misery in order to revive Xandred.

Jayden cutting Deker's sword in half only helps make it happen.

Xandred first turned on Deker, killing him instantly, before going after the Rangers. They were getting beaten, until they had help by the most unexpected person (though Emily had a suspicion).

Dayu, who admitted to Xandred and the Rangers that she had found something to live for when she had observed some couples in the park. Deker had tried telling her more than once that the two were married until Serrator tricked them into becoming Nighlock (which gave Dayu amnesia). And Dayu had also seen Deker fighting to avenge her, as well as when Xandred killed Deker (looks like the two just weren't meant to be).

So Dayu had decided that she'd fight for couples so they wouldn't turn into her and Deker.

Dayu had held off Xandred while Emily checked on her team, making sure they were still alive and listing all the injuries they had now (and she was afraid when she saw how serious they were). Dayu fought really well, one time putting Xandred on the defensive for a couple of minutes, before Xandred managed to kill her.

The Rangers didn't have time to mourn over her death (it surprised them to realize just how much she effected them), but Dayu's death explosion provided a great escape for the Rangers as Emily teleported them all back the House.

Back at the House, the Rangers tried their best to heal up as fast as they could. During this, Emily had gone through Serena's box of belongings that she never had the courage to open until now, and she had found a Disk filled with Serena's Sealing Power, and that's when she got an idea.

It was majorly thanks to that Disk (which severely weakened him and sealed off so much of his powers) and Dayu's Harmonium (which, when played by Terry, diverted the Sanzu River back to the Netherworld; it also weakened him) that they were able to defeat Xandred.

They had won, and everybody knows it. The entire city celebrates the Rangers' victory that whole next week, and Emily just can't believe that it's finally over, and for once in her life, she is proud of herself.

It's only at dinner one night, when Mia and Mike begin a discussion about everybody's plans now that Xandred's gone, that Emily realizes something that chills her to the bone.

Her vassals, and Antonio, all have their own lives outside of being Samurai. Of course they're not going to stay here at the House forever. Jayden plans on going back to his family ranch and seeing his sister again. Mia plans on going to a culinary school and actually learning how to cook. Kevin plans on returning to his old swimming team and pursuing his dream of entering the Olympics again. Antonio plans on going on a fishing cruise and fishing for exotic fish nobody's ever heard of. Mike plans on going to university and getting a degree in game design. Even Ji plans on visiting his own family once he's sure no Nighlock is going to attack with the next two weeks.

She's proud of them. She really is, and she only wants the best for them.

She nearly jumps out of her seat when she's asked what her plans are. She doesn't have the heart to ask any of them if she can tag along, since they all deserve time with their own families.

So she fakes a smile and replies with, "Oh, I don't know. Maybe search for a hobby to take up."

Half of her wants them to miss or completely ignore the fact that her smile is false, but the other half of her really wants them to notice and invite her along (they do notice).

But she doesn't say anything (neither do the others, because she'll probably lie and say she's fine).

The very next morning, the others depart (reluctantly), and suddenly, Emily is left alone all over again.

* * *

It's been three months since Emily's been left behind again. She's tried not to let the loneliness get to her, but it's hard. So in order to cope, Emily's tried to actually do what she told the others she planned to do: find some hobbies.

She starts on the safe side, by learning more songs to play on the flute. Once she's comfortable enough with that, she turns to the beach and begins collecting seashells (she especially keeps the ones she finds pretty). She also tries out photography, and she finds that she's actually really good at it, eventually deciding to post up her photos on a personal blog.

She also spends most of her time outside, watching over the civilians and protecting anyone that gets themselves into any sort of trouble. She's still a Power Ranger, no matter what anybody says.

Three months after the others' departure, Emily gets a call from Jayden out of nowhere, and as she answers, she wonders what Jayden's calling her for.

"Hey, Jay, what's up?" she asks, placing a new seashell in the wooden box she keeps them all in.

"Are you busy at all in the next two weeks?" Jayden asks her.

No, I'm lonely, she mentally replies, but she doesn't say it physically. Instead, she answers, "Nope. I'm pretty free for the next few months. I'm still just experimenting at this point."

"Good, good," he sounds nervous, and she wonders why. "I was just wondering if you'd like to come visit my ranch for a week or two."

"Really?" Emily asks. "You sure your family won't mind?"

"It's just me and Lauren right now. Mom and Dad are in Hawaii for the entire summer," Jayden answers. "And Lauren doesn't mind at all. I told her about you wanting to meet her. You still do, right?"

"O-Of course I do!" Emily smiles in what feels like forever. "I'll be there in three days."

"Great, see you then!" He then hangs up, and she's left wondering what he was so nervous about.

* * *

Emily arrives at Jayden's hometown three days later, just as she said she would. Jayden picks her up at the bus stop and leads her to his ranch (they walk there, but Emily doesn't mind; she's content).

It's only when she gets to the Shiba Clan's ranch, when she's bombarded by hugs from so many different people, that she becomes suspicious about who's property this really is (but she hears Jayden chuckling, so he obviously planned this).

Jayden is quick to say, "Ease up on the hugs, guys. Let her breathe."

With this, Emily is let go and given fresh air to breathe, before she's finally able to see the faces of the ones who wrapped her in bear hugs.

It's Mia, with her older sister-like aura and smelling like really good food.

It's Mike, with his frendly, cheerful jokester personality.

It's Kevin, with his logical mind and unshakable loyalty.

It's Antonio, with his hyper-ness and smelling like baked fish.

And there's also a young blonde woman there with elbow crutches, smiling. According to what Jayden told her previously, she must be Lauren.

And Emily's smile becomes wider than it's ever been, happy tears in her hazel eyes, as she realizes that she really won't ever be alone again.

She's not a fragile flower anymore. She's an unbreakable Princess.

**Author's Note:**

> This was definitely one of my favorite stories to write in the many years I've been on this site. This idea came to me when I realized that Jayden and Emily are so similar that you could easily swap their roles, so voila! This story was born.
> 
> The Deker/Dayu roleswap was necessary, yes, because if Jayden is Deker's foil, Dayu would have to be Emily's (and in this story, it does work). I also changed up the ending a bit, because if I had left it the same as canon, it would have been boring (and sorry if it seems rushed). Also, Tierran, in this story, is the stand-in for Fiera.
> 
> Review, please.


End file.
